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Youth arrested in Christie Pits sex assaults denied bail

She had gathered with hundreds of people in Toronto&rsquo;s west end to rally against a wave of sexual assaults that had terrorized her community, her family by her side as she joined the call for an end to the violence.

Annex residents marched through their neighbourhood earlier this month to protest the spate of sex assaults in their neighbourhood. (RICHARD LAUTENS / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Curtis Rush and Niamh ScallanStaff Reporters

Tues., Oct. 23, 2012

She had gathered with hundreds of people in Toronto’s west end to rally against a wave of sexual assaults that had terrorized her community, her family by her side as she joined the call for an end to the violence.

Weeks later, the woman would discover the boy whom she considered a son, the same boy who had stood at her side at September’s rally, had been arrested and charged with the crimes that had left her afraid to walk the streets alone.

“She was scared to walk some days or to go anywhere,” said the woman’s husband in an interview with the Star on Monday evening, after the couple’s 15-year-old nephew, whose name cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, had been denied bail following his Saturday arrest.

Earlier Monday, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair credited a female officer for her role in a sting operation that saw the boy captured in the west end, an arrest police describe as the culmination of a months-long investigation into a string of similar sexual assaults in the area.

In an encounter that bore the hallmarks of previous attacks, police say a man approached and sexually assaulted a victim from behind at around 11 p.m. Saturday in the Christie Pits area.

But unlike previous attacks, Blair said, the accused was caught immediately after the assault with the help of a female officer at the scene. He was charged with 14 counts of sexual assault and two counts of criminal harassment.

Blair refused to say whether the female officer was sexually assaulted during the sting, but noted during Monday’s news conference that a number of undercover female officers had been deployed to the area as part of the investigation.

“(They) went out into that community and put themselves at risk, knowing if they were successful in their mission, they could be the victim of an assault,” said Blair. “As a result of their courage, this investigation has been successfully concluded.”

With the teenager in custody, family and friends were left grappling Monday with accusations the boy was behind crimes that had drawn such public outrage in their own community.

In court, the boy’s aunt wept throughout the bail hearing, the details of which are under a publication ban. The boy, meanwhile, sat with his arms crossed throughout most of the proceedings.

A man who described himself as a good family friend (but cannot be named to protect the boy’s identity) said the boy, born in Ethiopia, had moved to Toronto several years ago to live with his aunt and uncle after his father had fallen ill.

The aunt and uncle encouraged him to study and play sports. He was quiet, the man said, a good soccer player who often helped out at their workplace after school.

The aunt said her only worry was that he would watch movies day and night, time she thought should be spent studying.

But there were also signs of trouble.

The aunt and uncle said police began “harassing” the boy after notifying them he was a person of interest in the assaults.

According to the family friend, the 15-year-old had been stopped by police at least three times on his way to school in the last two months, events the friend described as traumatic for the already-quiet teen.

“He was scared. He said he didn’t know why he was being stopped,” the man said, adding he encouraged the boy not to run away and to “give them the right answer.”

The boy’s uncle, meanwhile, told him “the situation is not good. Please keep a low profile.”

At one point, when he knew police were watching him, the boy asked his aunt and uncle why he had to keep a low profile: “I am innocent. I have a right to walk,” the uncle said the teen told him.

In September, after a few run-ins with police, the aunt and uncle said they decided to send the boy to another Canadian city to be with family — but he returned to Toronto a short time later.

On Monday, news of the teen’s arrest sent waves of relief through the west-end community, where many telephone poles remained plastered with “Stop rape now” posters.

Many neighbourhood residents said they felt safer following the arrest, but some expressed disbelief a minor was in custody for more than a dozen sexual assaults.

“I’m skeptical because there were so many attacks and the (suspect’s) descriptions were so vague,” said Jaime Ross, 34, who has lived in the Christie Pits area for three years. “But it’s a relief to hear someone was arrested.”

Meanwhile, the boy’s family remained insistent Monday he had done no wrong.

“He’s not going to lie to me. I trust him 100 per cent,” the uncle told the Star. “I said, ‘Did you do it? If you did it, tell me.’ He said, ‘I swear to God I did nothing.’ ”

“I’m just shocked,” added the family friend. “It’s such a pity . . . he’s just a kid.”

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